Let\u2019s face it, in 2,000 years of the history of the Church, there\u2019s been nothing quite like it: two popes, one active and the other emeritus, living across the road from one another for nearly a decade. Hollywood even made a movie about it. <\/p>\n
In an interview with Rome Reports, papal secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, confided that was not what Pope Benedict XVI had in mind when he resigned in 2013\u2026<\/p>\n
ARCH. GEORG GANSWEIN When he stepped down, Benedict XVI was 85 years old. Today the Pope Emeritus is 95. There\u2019s no doubt that, under normal circumstances, life expectancy continues to increase, giving rise to a series of often unpreceded situations, particularly in the Church.<\/p>\n So it should come as no surprise to learn that the Italian University of Bologna recently decided to bring together a group of experts in Canon Law to discuss these ecclesiastical situations \u2013 from a purely legal perspective, of course\u2026<\/p>\n ANDREA ZANOTTI Put eighty Canon lawyers in a room together anywhere and the conversation is bound to get heated. This time was no exception. Apparently, the discussion went far beyond deciding what ought to happen when a pope resigns. They started posing some far more leading questions, like: what happens when a reigning pope has a serious accident, or suffers a sudden illness that leaves him incapacitated and unable to make decisions? <\/p>\n ANDREA ZANOTTI One thing all the Canon lawyers agreed upon was that the Code of Canon Law needs to be amended, and that the best way to manage a crisis is to act before the crisis becomes \u2013 a crisis\u2026 <\/p>\n ILARIA ZUANAZZI All of which leaves a series of awkward and complicated questions to be answered: Who decides that the Pope incapacitated? Who takes his place in the meantime, and for how long? <\/p>\n It couldn\u2019t have been easy, but the eighty Canon lawyers did come up with a series of legal proposals: 1. That it should be the responsibility of the Dean of the College of Cardinals to confirm the state of mental and\/or physical health of the Pope and, following suitable medical consultation, certify the same together with his fellow Cardinals. 2. That in the case of the Pope being temporarily unable to fulfil his office, a council of five Cardinals would deal with the most urgent matters. 3. That if the Pope should be permanently incapacitated, a two-thirds majority of the College of Cardinals could declare the See of Peter vacant \u2013 the same as happens when a Pope dies \u2013 and call a conclave to elect a new one. <\/p>\n ILARIA ZUANAZZI And move forward they will. After fine-tuning their legal proposals, the Canon lawyers intend presenting Pope Francis with their conclusions regarding papal resignations and incapacitations as early as next year.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Octiber 16, 2022. Let\u2019s face it, in 2,000 years of the history of the Church, there\u2019s been nothing quite like it: two popes, one active and the other emeritus, living across the road from one another for nearly a decade. Hollywood even made a movie about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":43357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/7PhlXVHawG8","video_descarga":"http:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/CONFIDENCIAL INCAPACIDAD PAPA ENG.mp4","international_url":"http:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/CONFIDENCIAL INCAPACIDAD PAPA ENG.mp4","type":"rrp","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43356"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPrefect of the Papal Household
\n<\/strong>\u201cHe told me he didn't think the journey from the last day of his pontificate to St. Peter's Gate in Heaven would be so long!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\nCanon Lawyer, University of Bologna
\n<\/strong>\u201cThe legal profile and juridical status of a pope who resigns must be legally regulated somehow.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\nCanon Lawyer, University of Bologna
\n<\/strong>\u201cThere is a hypothesis already provided for in the Code of Canon Law, but it still requires special legislation that hasn\u2019t yet seen the light.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\nCanon Lawyer, University of Turin
\n<\/strong>\u201cThere\u2019s no legislation that covers these two extraordinary situations. It\u2019s important we come up with suitable legislation to deal with hypothetical scenarios that could arise in the future.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\nCanon Lawyer, University of Turin.
\n<\/strong>\u201cWe were delighted to confirm that all our colleagues agreed we need to move forward with these legal proposals.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n